Balance attachment for pedals



(No Model.)

J. R. BLIVEN. BALANCE ATTACHMENT FOR PBDALS.

Patented Jan. 5,189?

, mll/www JOHN R. BLIVEN, OF D'AYTONA, FLORIDA.

BALANCE ATTACHMENT FOR PEDALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,658, dated January5, 1897.

Application filed March 30,1896. Serial No. 585,455. (No mocleLl To LEZwhom, it Wray concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN R. BLIVEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Daytona, in the county of Volusia and State of Florida, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Balance Attachments forPedals, which improvement is fully set forth and described in thefollowing specification, reference being had to the accompanying sheetof drawings.

This invention has for its object the production of an attachment forbicycle-pedals which shall serve automatically to keep said pedals inproper position to receive the shoe of the rider, said attachment beingof the nature of a weight having connections that are readily adjustableto fit various sizes of pedals.

My improved balance attachments may thus be manufactured and marketedindependent of the pedals and may be attached to or removed from suchpedals at will.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 shows an outer end View of a pedalhaving my improved form of balance-weight attached thereto. This Viewalso shows the crank-arm and crank-shaft of a bicycle. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the pedal of Fig. 1, and Fig. o

is a cross-sectional View of said pedal on line 0c of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 isa detail view of portions of my attachment, explaining particularly themeans provided for adjusting the device to fit pedal-frames of greateror less width.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a crank-arm; 11, a shaft secured to theouter end of said arm; and 12 denotes the pedal, which latter is hereshown as of sheet metal bent to form side and end portions that aremounted to revolve freely on the axial shaft 11. Pedals of this classare made of various sizes and designs, but are usually mounted torevolve on a shaft or axle corresponding in general arrangement to theshaft 11, and said shaft revolves within a shell or tube 13, that is arigid part of the pedal and serves to protect the shaft proper fromdirt, &c. My device is intended to be attached to the said axletube 13.Fig. 3 perhaps explains most clearly the manner of thus attaching thedevice.

14 denotes a hook of suitable size to partly encircle tube 13, the shankof said hook being straight and screw-threaded, as at 15, to receive twothreaded nuts 16 and 17, between which is a disk 18, that is fitted toslide easily on said shank. Disk 18 is slotted across one end, onopposite sides of its central hole, to receive in each slot theoverlapping ends of two metallic strips 19 20, that are slightly greaterin width than the depth of the slots, so that when the parts areassembled, the

upper nut 16 will abut the exposed edges of the strips and will serve toclamp said strips tightly in disk 18 when the balance attachment is inuse.

I prefer to form the strips 18 19 as single pieces of metal that arebent to form rectangular frames 18' 19', in which I place blocks 18u 197of rubber or similar yielding material,

which, when the strips are adjusted to fit the pedal, engage the loweredges of the pedalframe of opposite sides of the tube 13, as is bestseen in Fig. 3.

When it is desired to use my described attachment, the nuts 16 17 areunscrewed until the hook 14 can be passed upward between thepedal-frames and hooked over tube 13. The upper screw 16 is then screwedupward and disk18 pushed upward until the rubber blocks 18a 19 engagethe lower edges of the side frames of the pedal. Nut17is then securedhome until the strips 19 2O are rmly clamped between nut 16 and thebottom of the slots in disk 18. This also acts to draw the hook 14 intoclose engagement with the tube 13 and effectually clamps the attachmentto the pedal. The weight thus provided serves to hold the pedal at alltimes in a given position relatively to its axle, so that the same sideof the pedal is always presented, in a horizontal position, to the footof the rider of the wheel. This is particularly desirable when mountinga wheel or when trjfing to catch the pedals after coasting.

The cost of producing my described attachments is very slight, and. theymay be very quickly attached to or removed from the pedals.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and wish to secure byLetters Patent- 1. A balance attachment for axially-supported pedals,consisting of nuts screwed IOO upon a threaded rod, Whose end is bent topartially encircle the pedal-axle or its tubular jacket, a slotted diskintermediate said nuts, and laterally-extending plates 19 20 located insaid disk-slots, substantially as specified.

2. In combination With a pedal mounted to revolve on an axial shaft, abalance attachinent consisting of a screw having a hook- Io shaped endadapted to engage said shaft, or

its tubular jacket, as set forth, threaded nuts fitted to said screw, aslotted disk intermediate said nuts, and laterally-extending platesloosely itted in the disk-slots with their ends adapted to engage theside frames of the pedal, all substantially as specified. JOIIN R.BLIVEN. Vitnesses:

R. X. DE GRAW, GEO. II. CLARK.

